Our first day in Queenstown and there and with so many activities and so little money we spend the first morning trawling through all the guidebooks and leaflets we had gathered to try to narrow down our options. It was another beautiful day so we decided there was no better time to checkout Queenstown from above via the Queenstown Gondolas. Similar to the ones in Rotorua they allow amazing views of the city and surrounding landscape. When we got to the top as ex...

After a very uneventful night in Haast we arrived in Lake Wanaka around 1pm. The drive down had been amazing with the road literally cut out of the mountains and we had to frequently stop to take a closer look at the beautiful scenery. I had to let Michael drive as I would have driven us off the mountain trying to look at all the stunning views. Around ever corner there is something different from stunning waterfalls to sheep climbing off the mountains onto the r...

The road to Franz Josef was pretty long and very windy with lots of twists and turns around every corner. Add that to the torrential rain and howling wind it didn't make for the most pleasant of journey's and we were both relieved when we finally arrived. Our reason for visiting Franz Josef was to take a guided hike onto the famous Franz Josef Glacier. We headed straight to the information site to find out what the weather was to be like for the next few days and...

We entered the grey county and true to its name it was exactly that, grey, rainy and miserable. For the final 2 hours of our journey the rain had been getting progressively worse and the fog at times made it really difficult to see the road. Our main reason for coming to Greymouth as opposed to one of the other nearby towns was due to a recommendation. When we had been in Rotorua we had been desperate to do a white water rafting experience that incorporated some ...

After a busy few days and still feeling the effects of our biking adventure we decided on our crossing from east to west we would spend and afternoon and night at Hanmer Springs. Hanmer Springs is a small tourist town built up around a luxury outdoor mineral spa. We thought an afternoon chilling out in some soothing mineral pools was just what the doctor ordered. We arrived around lunch time and the weather was fortunately sunny and as we were away from the coast...